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The Cheshire Portal
Welcome Cheshire Plain from the Mid Cheshire Ridge
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in the North West of England. Chester is the county town, and formerly gave its name to the county. The largest town is Warrington, and other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich, Runcorn, Sandbach, Widnes, Wilmslow and Winsford. The county is administered as four unitary authorities. Cheshire occupies a boulder clay plain (pictured) which separates the hills of North Wales from the Peak District of Derbyshire. The county covers an area of 2,343 km2 (905 sq mi), with a high point of 559 m (1,834 ft) elevation. The estimated population is a little over one million, 19th highest in England, with a population density of around 450 people per km2. The county was created in around 920, but the area has a long history of human occupation dating back to before the last Ice Age. Deva was a major Roman fort, and Cheshire played an important part in the Civil War. Predominantly rural, the county is historically famous for the production of Cheshire cheese, salt and silk. During the 19th century, towns in the north of the county were pioneers of the chemical industry, while Crewe became a major railway junction and engineering facility. Selected article
Tabley House is a grade-I-listed country house in Tabley Inferior, near Knutsford. It was built by John Carr in the Palladian style for Sir Peter Byrne Leicester. Completed in around 1769, it is the only Palladian country house in Cheshire to date from the 18th century. The house is in brick with stone dressings, and has a large sandstone portico on the south front and paired pavilion wings. Tabley House replaced Tabley Old Hall of around 1380, located on a moated island, which Sir Peter deemed "not commodious." The ruins of the Old Hall remain in the grounds. Its chapel, now known as St Peter's Church, was moved to stand by the new house in 1927. The house and estate continued to be held by the Leicester family until 1975, and subsequently belonged to the Victoria University of Manchester. The first-floor reception rooms are now open to the public and display paintings and furniture from the house. Selected image
The Cheshire Regiment was formed in 1881 from the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot, created in 1689 by the Duke of Norfolk. It suffered 8,420 casualties during the First World War; this picture is from the Battle of the Somme of 1916. Credit: Lt. J. W. Brooke (July 1916) In this month
1 February 1863: Artist and printmaker John Romney died in Chester. 1 February 1869: The first goods train crossed Runcorn Railway Bridge. 3 February 1646: Chester surrendered during the Civil War. 3 February 1857: First meeting of Cheshire Police committee. 3 February 1885: Foundation stone of Grosvenor Museum laid by the Duke of Westminster. 4 February 1253–4: Lordship of Chester gifted to Edward, heir of Henry III. 5 February 1977: Olympic gold medallist sailor Ben Ainslie born in Macclesfield. 6 February 1987: Lindow III discovered at Lindow Moss. 9 February 1539: First recorded race at Chester Racecourse. 13 February 1839: Riot at Chester Castle in support of poachers awaiting trial. 14 February 1926: Fire partially destroyed Oulton Hall. 15 February 1918: Physicist John Holt born in Runcorn. 19 February 1943: Nobel prize winning biochemist Tim Hunt born in Neston. 20 February 1643: Beeston Castle seized from the Royalists by Parliamentary forces commanded by Sir William Brereton (pictured). 20 February 1907: Radar pioneer Skip Wilkins born in Chorlton. 21 February 2008: Sunny Lowry, first woman to swim the Channel, died in Warrington. 26 February 1993: IRA explosive devices went off at Warrington gasworks. Selected list
The 59 listed buildings in Great Budworth include two at Grade I, one at Grade II* and the remainder at Grade II. Most are in the village of Great Budworth, formerly within the Arley Hall estate. In 1860–1900, Rowland Egerton-Warburton, the hall's owner, commissioned new buildings and the restoration of existing ones in the village, employing architects working in the Vernacular Revival style, including John Douglas, Edmund Kirby and William Eden Nesfield. Almost all the buildings in the village centre, those in Main Street, Church Street (pictured) and School Lane, are listed. The Grade-I-listed St Mary and All Saints Church originated in the 14th century and was virtually complete by the end of the 16th century. The Grade-I-listed Belmont Hall, designed by James Gibbs in about 1750, incorporates Palladian features. The Grade-II*-listed Old School House dates from 1615. Many of the Grade-II-listed buildings are 17th-century timber-framed houses and farm buildings, most of which have been recased in brick. There are two listed public houses: the Cock Inn and the George and Dragon. More unusual listed structures include the churchyard walls, a sundial, stocks, lychgate, guidepost, two wellhouses and a telephone kiosk. GeographyTop: Map of modern Cheshire showing urban areas (grey) and the major road network. Chester (red) is the county town, and Warrington has the greatest population. Towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants in 2011 are highlighted; the size of dot gives a rough indication of the relative population. Wales and the adjacent English counties are shown in capitals. Bottom: Relief map showing the major hills. The Mid Cheshire Ridge is a discontinuous ridge of low hills running north–south from Beacon Hill (north of Helsby Hill) to Bickerton Hill. Most other high ground falls within the Peak District in the east of the county. Shining Tor (559 metres), on the boundary with Derbyshire, forms the county's high point.
Administration The ceremonial county of Cheshire is administered by four unitary authorities (click on the map for details): 2 – Cheshire East 3 – Warrington 4 – Halton In the local government reorganisation of 1974, Cheshire gained an area formerly in Lancashire including Widnes and Warrington. The county lost Tintwistle to Derbyshire, part of the Wirral Peninsula to Merseyside, and a northern area including Stockport, Altrincham, Sale, Hyde, Dukinfield and Stalybridge to Greater Manchester. Selected biography
Thomas Brassey (7 November 1805 – 8 December 1870) was a civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials. At the time of his death, he was responsible for building 1 in every 20 miles of railway worldwide. Born in Buerton, the son of a farmer, he attended school in nearby Chester. After an apprenticeship in Overton, Flintshire, he established a business in Birkenhead. His first railway commission was Penkridge Viaduct, completed in 1837. Brassey was responsible for building about one-third of Britain's railways and three-quarters of those in France, as well as major lines across Europe and in Canada, Australia, S. America and India. He also constructed the associated docks, bridges, viaducts, stations, tunnels and drainage works. His other works included steamships, mines, locomotive factories, marine telegraphy and water supply and sewerage systems, including part of the London sewerage system. His estate was valued at over £5 million. Did you know...
Selected town or village
Marbury is a small village near Whitchurch, in the civil parish of Marbury cum Quoisley, which borders Shropshire. The parish covers 2,168 acres (877 ha); it includes the small settlements of Hollins Lane, Marley Green, Quoisley, and part of Hollyhurst, Willeymoor and Combermere Abbey park, with a population just under 250 in 2001. Marbury is thought to have been inhabited since the Anglo-Saxon period. In the Civil War, the parish was plundered by both sides during 1642–44, after Thomas Marbury declared for Parliament. It contains many historic buildings, the earliest being the 15th-century St Michael's Church. The area is agricultural with undulating terrain, 75–120 metres in elevation. Dairy farming is the main industry. The Llangollen Canal runs along the northern boundary, and five meres form important wildlife habitats. Marbury Big Mere is a fishing lake and the Quoisley Meres are a Wetland of International Importance; they originate in glacial kettle holes. "Marbury Merry Days", a traditional country fair, is held in May. In the news.JPG) Crewe Market Hall 29 October, 1 November: Warrington council and the mayor of Crewe each announce plans to bid for city status in 2022. 13–14 October: Prince Edward visits Chester and opens a Fire Service training centre in Winsford. 8 October: Castle Street shopping area in Macclesfield reopens after refurbishment. 4 October: Restoration of the grade-I-listed Bridgegate, part of Chester city walls, is completed. 25 September: A bronze frieze by the sculptor Tom Murphy is unveiled in Warrington, as a memorial to the band Viola Beach. 9 September: The fifth stage of the Tour of Britain cycle race takes place in Cheshire, starting at Alderley Park and finishing in Warrington. 24 July: The grade-II-listed Crewe Market Hall (pictured) formally reopens after refurbishment. 15 July: Crewe, Runcorn and Warrington are awarded potential funding under the "Town Deal" government scheme. QuotationIn the first place, Cranford is in possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women. If a married couple come to settle in the town, somehow the gentleman disappears; he is either fairly frightened to death by being the only man in the Cranford evening parties, or he is accounted for by being with his regiment, his ship, or closely engaged in business all the week in the great neighbouring commercial town of Drumble, distant only twenty miles on a railroad. In short, whatever does become of the gentlemen, they are not at Cranford. ... The ladies of Cranford are quite sufficient. "A man," as one of them observed to me once, "is so in the way in the house!" From Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (1851–3)
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